OCT. 26 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan plans to spend $15.6b on
industrial development between 2011 and 2013, PM Karim Massimov told his Nur Otan party according to his website. Transport and infrastructure will receive $6.8b.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 13, published on Nov. 1 2010)
OCT. 28 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Underdeveloped banking systems, a high rate of non-performing loans and inflexible exchange rates are potential brakes on economic recovery in Central Asia and the south Caucasus, the IMF said.
With their reliance on neighbouring Russia and global commodity prices, the global financial downturn in 2009 was tough for the economies of Central Asia and the south Caucasus. This year, with Russia and commodity prices recovering and the impact of domestic fiscal stimulus taking hold, the IMF predicts steady economic growth throughout the regions, other than for Kyrgyzstan.
Remittances from workers in Russia, so important for the poorer Central Asian and Caucasus countries, grew by 26% in the first half of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
The IMF said that inflation was generally under control at around 8%, although in Uzbekistan it was nearer 11%. For the IMF, the regions’ banking sectors are a concern. In Kazakhstan, the IMF pointed out, non-performing loans total nearly 26% of all loans.
IMF’s GDP % growth figures (2010 and 2011 are predictions):
Armenia +13.7 (2007); +6.9 (2008); -14.2 (2009); +4.0 (2010); +4.6 (2011)
Azerbaijan +25.0 (2007); +10.8 (2008); +9.3 (2009); +4.3 (2010); +1.8 (2011)
Georgia +12.3 (2007); +2.3 (2008); -3.9 (2009); +5.5 (2010); +4.0 (2011)
Kazakhstan +8.9 (2007); +3.2 (2008); +1.2 (2009); +5.4 (2010); +5.1 (2011)
Kyrgyzstan +8.5 (2007); +8.4 (2008); +2.3 (2009); -3.5 (2010); +7.1 (2011)
Tajikistan +7.8 (2007); +7.9 (2008); +3.4 (2009); +5.5 (2010); +5.0 (2011)
Turkmenistan +11.6 (2007); +10.5 (2008); +6.1 (2009); +9.4 (2010); +11.5 (2011)
Uzbekistan +9.5 (2007); +9.0 (2008); +8.1 (2009); +8.0 (2010); +7.0 (2011)
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 13, published on Nov. 1 2010)
OCT. 18 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a rare economic forecast, Turkmenistan’s
government said its economy would grow by 7.5% in 2010 compared to 6.1% last year. Boosted by revenues from gas exports Turkmen government statistics have shown sharp growth in the past few years.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 12, published on Oct. 21 2010)
OCT. 19 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Relations between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have blossomed recently and on Oct. 19 Uzbek President Islam Karimov arrived in Ashgabat for a two day visit, his second trip in 10 months.
Mr Karimov last visited in Dec. 2009 for the opening of a gas pipeline running from Turkmenistan to China via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. As if to highlight strengthening Uzbek-Turkmen friendship, Mr Karimov’s press office said trade in 2009 between the two neighbours had increased by 40%.
But relations haven’t always been this cosy and only since Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov took over as Turkmenistan’s president in 2006, have links visibly improved.
There was little official detail on what was discussed but talks were likely to have focused on NATO’s war in Afghanistan, gas export prices and shared concern about the growing influence of Russia in Central Asia — Kazakhstan has joined a Customs Union with Russia and Belarus and an election in Kyrgyzstan handed pro-Russia parties the balance of power — as well as concern at the development of upstream hydropower plants in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
According to Mr Karimov’s press office, the potential of a transport corridor from Central Asia to the Middle East was also on the agenda.
Combined, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have clout in the region. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are major gas, gold and cotton exporters and they hold nearly half of Central Asia’s roughly 60m people.
Karimov’s visit was also well timed. The day after he left, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev arrived in Ashgabat for his own talks with Mr Berdymukhamedov.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 12, published on Oct. 21 2010)
OCT. 8 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazmunaigas, Kazakhstan’s state energy company, may borrow up to $14b to fund its $20b investment programme instead of raising cash through an IPO, CEO Kairgeldy Kabyldin said. Kazakhstan wants to speed up development of its energy sector and Mr Kabyldin had said Kazmunaigas was considering an IPO.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 11, published on Oct. 14 2010)
OCT. 13 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia started a visa-free entry regime for citizens of Russia’s north Caucasus. They are allowed to stay in Georgia without a visa for 90 days. Georgia said it decided to waive the visa requirements to boost trade across the Caucasus mountains. Russia called it a provocation.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 11, published on Oct. 14 2010)
OCT. 12 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan will increase defence spending by 89.7% in 2011, Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said. The extra investment will raise defence spending to 19.6% of the total government budget. Mr Sharifov said half the money would be used to buy military hardware and the rest spent on special projects.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 11, published on Oct. 14 2010)
OCT. 14 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Fuelled by oil and gas exports, Azerbaijan’s economy grew by over 800% between 2000 and 2009. Its defence spending nearly, but not quite, kept up. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimated that over the same period, Azerbaijan’s defence budget grew by 500%.
But in June this year, Azerbaijan said it would boost defence spending in 2010 by 30% and now finance minister Samir Sharifov has said that in 2011 it will rise by nearly 90% to $3.13b.
SIPRI said that in 2000 Azerbaijan spent $251m on defence. By 2011, then, its annual defence spending will have increased by more than 1200% since 2000, outstripping economic growth.
In terms of government spending, Mr Sharifov said in 2011 Azerbaijan will spend nearly 1/5 on defence. As a proportion of its GDP it will be around 6.5%. The world’s top spenders spend up to 8% of their annual GDP on defence.
But if Mr Sharifov was explicit on the numbers, he was less explicit on how the extra cash would be spent. He said that half of it would go on buying new equipment directly and the rest on special projects. Azerbaijan’s main military concern is tension with Armenia around the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan and Armenia are still officially at war.
Armenia-backed forces have controlled Nagorno-Karabakh since a ceasefire in 1994 after a war in which around 30,000 people died. Soldiers from both sides still die each year in skirmishes around the mountainous region and the EU has warned the situation could deteriorate.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 11, published on Oct. 14 2010)
OCT. 14 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Foreign investors will this year beat the $2.8b they invested into Turkmenistan’s energy sector in 2009, Reuters quoted a government official as saying. Turkmenistan has been diversifying its export markets to Europe and China.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 11, published on Oct. 14 2010)
OCT. 3 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Iranian and Tajik energy ministers endorsed a memorandum of understanding on improving cooperation between the two countries on a range of issues from industry to social affairs, Iran’s Fars news agency reported. Iran and Tajikistan have worked on improving ties through the year.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 10, published on Oct. 7 2010)